


Little Things

by SilverLynxx



Category: Rush (2013)
Genre: M/M, yoghurt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-26
Updated: 2014-03-26
Packaged: 2018-01-17 01:26:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1368850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverLynxx/pseuds/SilverLynxx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Niki decides that he wouldn’t mind a truce with James. It would be good, nice even, to rekindle the friendship they once had.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Little Things

**Author's Note:**

> This was heavily inspired by Nadayoghurt’s fic [(X)](http://nadayoghurt.tumblr.com/post/79931311438/so-i-stumbled-across-this-picture-of-nelson-piquet), cause the thought of Niki sharing his beloved yoghurt was too precious （Ｔ∇Ｔ）

The sky is a moody grey and rain falls lightly in spits and spurts as Niki finishes his qualifying lap and kicks up spray as he pulls into the pits. He removes his helmet and his mask, and the heavy drops of rain against his sweat-damp curls are a welcome relief. Hauling himself out of the Ferrari, Niki leaves it in the care of his team as he leaves to seek out his icebox tucked away in the garage.

He pulls a cup of yogurt from the chest, and after finding the spoon he keeps tucked away Niki meanders towards the pit doors to indulge himself in peace. However as he leans against the doorframe and scans the paddock, about to peel the lid from his yogurt, he spots James sat on the steps of his trailer, barefoot and damp with a newspaper lying wet and ruined on the ground nearby.

The Austrian frowns and watches as drivers, mechanics, and McLaren crew members alike work around the blond and yet do not engage him. He can’t blame them really, James is many things a lot of the time - rambunctious, aggressive, drunk off his face - but very rarely is he so visibly wretched, so it’s no surprise they would prefer to leave him be. Niki most of all is unsure of where he stands with James anymore. The strains of Formula1 and the media had contorted their once-camaraderie into something Niki can no longer describe as pleasant.

Even still, Niki finds himself stepping out of the shelter of the garage and striding towards the blond sat sullenly on his trailer doorstep. As he draws closer Niki can just make out the title of the sodden paper on the floor. He isn’t surprised to see that it hosts some form of bad word play on James’ name or career to headline another article about his split from Suzy.

His own vindictive words - ‘ _No wonder she left him_ ’- echo in his mind. Granted, he’d had no idea James hadn’t known by that point, but it still hardens Niki’s resolve when he almost diverts his path from James at the last minute.

“Hunt,”

James blinks out of his vacant stare and looks up at Niki with vague surprise.

“Rat.”

“Are you going to let me sit down,” the brunet asks, though it’s posed more as a statement than a question. James quirks an eyebrow with a smirk that’s weak even by Niki’s standards.

“And why would I do that?” James returns, and Niki doesn’t actually have a response. He stands expectantly none the less, yet when James merely stares right back Niki glances at his own paddock, wondering if he should just abort this foolish mission and walk away with whatever dignity he had left intact after the blatant rebuff.

He catches movement out the corner of his eye and Niki looks back to see that James has scooted over on the step, leaving just enough room for Niki to sit beside him.

Silently relieved, he takes the offered seat and they fall into an off-silence, listening to the noises of the pits around them. Niki twists the yogurt cup between his fingers and stares at it thoughtfully, then at James who has gone back to staring blankly at something Niki cannot see. He licks his lips, then sucks on his teeth, before at last proffering the cup.

“Here.”

James comes back to himself for a second time and looks quizzically down at the pot Niki is offering as if it’s a foreign object. Niki gives it a small insistent wiggle until James takes the yogurt and spoon with a furrowed brow.

“You haven’t poisoned it, have you? That would definitely be classed as cheating, Rat,” James says with the smallest smile.  

“That would be a waste of perfectly good yogurt,”

“And giving it to me isn’t?”

Niki doesn’t reply and instead watches the cars next for the qualifying laps position themselves on the grid. With no response forthcoming James peels the lid off the yogurt and dips the spoon, and Niki is satisfied when James sighs after a few mouthfuls and his mood seems to shift to something more content.  

It’s only then that Niki notices that the previous pit-activity around them has ground to a stand-still, and dozens of eyes are watching them. Whispers join the patter of the rain and Niki tries not to look disconcerted by the interest, but the irritation he feels is making the thought of flipping everyone off a tempting one.

The Brit beside him doesn’t even seem to notice, despite Niki being able to see his own team at a distance looking out of the Ferrari garage, and even some of the mechanics watching dumbfounded out in the rain. And under a nearby canopy Audetto and Caldwell are talking and gesturing without taking their eyes of them, Audetto shaking his head to Caldwell’s incredulous “Has Lauda _ever_ shared his yogurt before?”

It was as if his yogurt had become some profound overture as opposed to a pot of artificially flavoured dairy produce.  

But as James scrapes the remnants from the pot and licks the spoon clean after, Niki decides that he wouldn’t mind a truce with James. It would be good, nice even, to rekindle the friendship they’d once had. And as James sets the empty cup aside and gives Niki’s shoulder a gentle, grateful bump with his own, Niki feels that - perhaps - James thinks so too.

 

 


End file.
